Episode 23 Roar

'On Roar today, meet Marmite the meerkat.

'She was hand raised as a pet and thinks she's human.

'But today she'll meet wild meerkats for the first time.

'Will they mix, or will they fight?'

-Hello, I'm Johny.

-And I'm Rani.

And welcome to another amazing episode of Roar.

We're here with the rhesus macaques, which store food in cheek pouches

to eat later, which we think is a great idea.

It is a good idea, Johny, but it's getting a bit trickier to talk.

Maybe we could munch on these grapes and just get on with the show.

'Here's what's coming up. It's feeding time for the big cats,

'and I find out what it feels like to be hunted by a tiger.'

'How do you give Anne the Elephant a wash?

'With a power shower and a scrubbing brush.'

I think we're going to be here quite a while.

'And me and the gang are off to meet

'one of the park's luckiest and most-loved animals.'

ALL: Oooh!

'It's Joey, the hand-reared baby wallaby.'

'We're starting today down at Animal Adventure,

'because recently there have been some unusual sightings.

'A meerkat on a lead is not something you see every day,

'but this is no ordinary meerkat.'

This is Marmite and she is a meerkat.

She's a little different to the ones in Jungle Kingdom,

she's a hand reared meerkat.

'Three-year-old Marmite was given to Longleat by her previous owners.

'They'd raised her, but as she grew up

'they realised meerkats don't make good pets.

'They gave her to the park, and now keeper Kim is looking after her.'

Having a meerkat in a house isn't a good idea

unless you can have eight others. They need to be together.

Meerkats dig, they've got really big teeth, they stink.

But the main reason is you will make them unhappy.

'In the wild, meerkats live in large family groups known as mobs.

'They're clever, social animals who need company.'

We've one main group of meerkats in Jungle Kingdom, the breeding group.

'Kim and the team wanted to introduce Marmite to the group,

'but when they tried it, things didn't go well.'

When we put her in with the group, she didn't know how to be a meerkat.

She sat in the corner with her head in between her front legs

and just stayed there. She looked very nervous.

'Marmite has spent all her life with humans.

'If she's to join the mob, Kim must teach her how to be a meerkat.'

She digs. All meerkats dig for bugs, for food, so she did pick that up.

Obviously her noises.

MEERKAT CHIRRUPS

That's a meerkat thing. She chatters constantly when she's happy.

And she sits up like you've seen most meerkats do.

The difference is she doesn't know what she's looking for.

Most meerkats will look out for danger, look up at the sky.

She's just being nosy.

'Nosy or not, it's a start, and Kim has got a plan for Marmite.

'There is another small group of meerkats here at the park.

'They're boys who have been pushed out of the main group

'by the dominant male. So, might these boys be a match for Marmite?'

She's going in as the only female.

Which, hopefully, will mean she'll have lots of babies

and the next time we see her, she'll have a family of her own.

'It's a risky strategy, but it's also the best thing for Marmite.

'She needs to be with other meerkats.

'But will the males accept her?

'We'll come back to see what happens.'

'If you don't like spiders, then you won't like this fact.

'The black lace-weaver spider is common in our woodlands.

'The female is only 16mm long.

'But she'll only ever have one family of babies.

'That's because when her spiderlings have hatched from their eggs,

'mum lets them eat her.

'Ewwww!

'Disgusting, but true.'

During my time on Roar, I've cleaned everything from giant pythons

to tiny, cute, fluffy bunnies.

But today I'm cleaning an animal

that weighs an incredible 3.6 tonnes.

Anne the elephant.

'Anne is probably the most famous elephant in the world,

'and she's certainly our favourite.'

I'm here with Andy and Ryan,

and I think they're going to be impressed, cos I've come prepared.

-Hi Andy, all right?

-What's that all about?

We're going to clean Anne the elephant, aren't we?

We won't need that, or that, and definitely not the shower cap, mate.

-Really?

-Absolutely not.

I've got a camera. Is that better?

-Do I look cool, now?

-Yeah, really cool.

-Andy!

You guys at home might think this is funny, like Andy,

but I'm doing this for you, so we can get a close look at Anne,

cos our camera crew aren't allowed in there, are they?

No, we can look after you in there, Johny,

but if we have everyone in there, it'll possibly upset Anne,

and we can keep you safer on your own.

Anne comes first.

So where do we start, then, cleaning a giant elephant?

You don't need a little bath sponge, you need a big scrubbing brush.

Ryan will wet her down, give her a soak,

and we'll get some warm, soapy water and we'll scrub her all over

and make her look marvellous.

I think Ryan's finished rinsing Anne down.

I've noticed chains around Anne's ankles.

Is that for Ryan's safety or Anne's?

It's part of the way we manage Anne.

We need to go in, we need to treat her skin and look after her skin.

It's the best thing for her.

It's like putting a lead on a dog, or a head collar on a pony.

It's our way of making sure we can keep Anne still.

She doesn't mind. It's half an hour a day for her bath. That's it.

-OK, you come in behind me, Johny.

-I'm going in!

Right, what you want to do is get a bit of soap on that

-and scrub as hard as you can.

-Really?

-Yeah.

If your arms aren't aching when you finish, you haven't done it right.

Right, that's a challenge.

How often do you give her a scrub?

-Every day.

-Really?

This is done every day.

It's just a brilliant part of my day.

If you feel her skin, it's like leather.

Really nice and soft and supple.

How thick is an elephant's skin?

In certain places it can be 2.5cm thick.

In other places, behind her ears or around her eyes,

very thin skin, probably as thin as yours or mine.

Really? Andy this is all good us giving her a clean,

but if she was out in the wild, how would she clean then?

Are they vain animals?

Yeah, they go out and go to mud baths,

they cover themselves with mud which will help remove dead skin.

-So it's true what they say about mud?

-Yeah, mud baths are great.

This has been one of the highlights for me,

getting so close to such a huge animal.

She is 2.5 metres tall and she weighs 3.6 tonnes.

I think we're going to be here quite a while.

Come on, Andy, get stuck in.

G'day! Time for Ask The Keeper.

Now, today, in the hot seat,

or should I say the 'hop' seat, is Bev Evans.

Bev, we are going to be asking you questions

-on the hand-reared wallaby, Joseph.

-OK.

-Only problem is, where is Joseph?

-He's in my bag, actually, Rani.

-Do you want me to get him out?

-Yes!

-OK, let me have a look in here.

He's been a bit sleepy, but I'm sure he'll be hopping in a minute.

ALL: Ooooh!

My goodness. Is he cute?

-Yeah.

-He is, isn't he?

Do you have a question about Joseph?

How long does it take for a wallaby's tail to grow bigger?

Joseph is 6.5 months,

and when he was born his tail was half the size,

and they're normally fully grown by five years old.

That can be up to about 75cm.

So probably five years to grow a full tail.

Why do they need such a big tail?

They need a big tail for hopping. It keeps them balanced.

Sometimes when they're grooming they lean back and groom their claws

and they use that tail to make sure they don't fall over.

How big is a baby wallaby when it's born?

Right, I thought someone would ask this question,

so I have a little thing in my pocket to show you.

A baby wallaby is about the size of a jelly bean when it's born,

and that goes into the pouch, and stays there for about 9.5 months.

Is it hard to hand-rear a baby wallaby?

Hand-rear a wallaby?

Yes, it is, actually.

There's a team of three of us who look after Joseph.

To begin with, it was feeding every two hours.

We've finished his night feeds, that makes it easier,

but then he starts hopping more, so he's all over your sofa at night,

so it's quite difficult, he needs a lot of looking after.

What's it like having a wallaby jumping on your couch?

It's amusing to begin with,

but after a while he tends to have a wee and a poo.

Ughh, Bev! On the couch?!

-Yes. I'll put him down a sec.

-Oh, he's getting down, look at that.

-Look, he's come over.

-You can stroke him if you want.

-Can we?

Go on, have a little stroke.

'We can only stroke Joey cos we're with Bev, a trained keeper.'

-How's he feel?

-He feels like a fluffy pillow.

-LAUGHTER

-Don't want you sleeping on that.

What does he eat?

He's on milk at the moment,

but he's just about to start on a few bits of solids.

Banana, he loves. Melon.

He likes cereals. Anything that's quite soft to eat.

He's not on to grass or anything like that yet,

but we're hoping soon he'll start doing that.

Bev, you are good at answering these questions,

-but I think you're playing on Joseph's cuteness.

-I'm not!

I think we're being too nice to you.

I think it's time for the killer question.

Let's get in here. Watch Joseph's tail.

Right, we need a killer question, we need to make it tough.

WHISPERING

Yeah, OK. Come on, then.

Listen, Joseph. We're not going to tell Bev the answer.

You're going to be on our side this time.

So, Bev, when a wallaby's born, it's the size of a jelly bean.

So, how many jelly beans would it take to be the same weight

as a 30 kilo adult wallaby.

That's a bit tough. Don't you think that's a bit of a trick question?

It's a killer question. Joseph came up with that.

-Didn't he?

-ALL: Yeah.

He's a clever wallaby.

What's mummy got to say about this?

Mummy's going to guess, and say about 70,000 jelly beans,

which sounds ridiculous.

What do you think, Joseph? Is Mummy right or wrong?

Mummy's wrong. Oh, no, Bev, you were doing so well.

It's actually 12,000 jelly beans.

But well done for trying. Do you want to go back to mummy?

Here we go. Make mummy feel a bit better.

Bev knew her stuff about wallabies.

She let us have a little stroke. So thumbs up or down?

You're all hopping mad, you are!

-Bev, well done, you. It's thumbs up all round.

-Thank you.

'Back at Animal Adventure,

'today is the big day for Marmite the meerkat.

'Keeper Kim is preparing for the move.'

Today we are going to take Marmite up to Jungle Kingdom,

which is where the meerkats live, and introduce her to her new boyfriends.

'They won't be mixed straight away,

'but will be placed in enclosures next door to each other.'

Today we'll put her in in her box,

and they'll get a chance to smell each other

and get to know each other before they're introduced.

Come on, then.

Ready to meet your new friends?

'If Marmite and the boys get on well,

'this could be one of the last days that Kim can handle her.

'It's important that Marmite learns not to rely on human contact.'

I'm a little bit emotional.

Obviously I'm going to miss her, cos we spend so much time together.

But it's the anticipation of whether they'll get on

that's nerve-racking for me. Probably as much as it is for her.

'The first stage is to put Marmite in an enclosure

'next to her new companions so they can smell each other.

'Then in a few days' time, if all goes well,

'she'll come face to face with her potential boyfriends.'

This is Marmite's pen. The boys are over there.

-Have we got her cuddly toys?

-There's two in there.

Shall we pop one back in here so she feels more comfortable?

-No worries.

-I'll get her donkey for her.

Right then, girlie. New house. You can smell the boys.

'Marmite is keen to sniff out her new home, and her new neighbours.'

They're trying to get their paws under the door,

trying to touch her and have a little play.

'While Marmite gets used to the unfamiliar surroundings,

'Kim is keeping an eye on her progress.'

It's difficult for her cos she's got to get used to a new environment.

The boys only have to get used to her.

She seems to be doing all right. She's not scared.

She's not nervous, she's not running and hiding in the corner.

'So far, it's all been going well,

'but the next step is for Marmite to meet the boys.

'How will it go? We'll be back later.'

What did the fish say when he swam into a wall?

Dam!

CLUCKING

What time is it when an elephant sits in your fence?

Time to get a new fence.

SHE PANTS AND BARKS

Why do gorillas have big fingers?

Cos they have big nostrils.

LAUGHTER

'Three times a week here in the safari park,

'the big cats are all on edge.

'Their ears are straining, their noses twitching,

'and they are ready to go hunting.

'That's because it's feeding time.

'And today, I'm helping keeper Bob out with the tigers.'

This is my first time in the feed truck.

We're in the tiger enclosure, they're chasing the truck,

they've got to be hungry. Right, Bob, what do I need to know?

First things first, you need gloves.

Secondly, don't put your fingers through the mesh.

I'm not going to put my fingers through the mesh.

How do we feed them? Do we open the door and throw it out?

No, we're a lot safer.

As you can see, this hole there, this meat goes down the hole.

Now they've chased it, they've earned their supper.

-So, shall we feed them?

-Yeah!

-OK, so who is this?

-Here we've got Soundari.

-Soundari, my favourite.

She deserves it. Shall I put one through? Ooh, it's heavy, isn't it?

-Yeah, it's a fair bit of meat.

-Who's that one?

-Turlough.

-He's a big fella, isn't he?

-He's a nice size.

He's going off into a quiet corner for something to eat.

So how much is this for them?

On average a year, we feed about 40 tonnes of meat.

Which equates to about two 57-kilo people a day.

-That's a lot of food!

-A lot of food.

-Now, Turlough's a new boy here, isn't he?

-He is.

And this is quite a novel way to feed tigers, isn't it?

This is ideal for them, it's almost like hunting for them.

They have to chase it to get their food.

Turlough is especially good at it. He comes from a zoo,

where they wouldn't have fed this way.

-For him to take to it like he does is brilliant.

-Do they like the chase?

I think they do. It's stimulation for them, and it looks natural for them.

OK, they seem to be enjoying it.

I've got to say, I'm not the best chef in the world,

but I think I quite successfully fed the tigers there.

-I reckon so.

-Thank you very much, Bob, I really enjoyed that.

'It's cheat code time for the Roar game.

'Type in gold999 and see what you get.

'A new treat, a new animal, or even a new enclosure.'

'Just remember, keep checking up on your animals

'on the CBBC website to make sure they're OK.

'Happy gaming!'

I'm going to let you into a secret. I've been on Roar for a few years,

but sometimes I find it difficult to tell the animals apart.

So I've nipped over to meet keeper Sarah,

who is going to give me some tips so I can look all clever on TV.

Hello, Sarah. So, how can you tell these apart?

Cos that looks like the same snake three times, to me.

It can be tricky, but it is important that we can tell each snake apart,

for records, and feeding, making sure we feed the correct snake.

And with the snakes, each one has got different markings.

What are we going to do? Guess which one's which?

Yeah, I've got some notes here for you for each one.

-There's a little bit describing the differences between each one.

-OK.

Then I'll see if you can tell them apart by reading these.

So, we've got Khan, first, who's male.

Long stripe down the neck.

Golden colour. Has 10cm stripe on tail.

-I'm going to guess that right here we have Khan.

-Right, OK.

We've got Hunter. Male. Heart-shaped patterns on skin,

a sausage-shaped mark on the back of its neck.

I'm guessing... Yes, definitely heart-shaped. We'll go for Hunter.

-OK.

-That leaves Keelan who's got a long stripe down the neck,

small and slim, has a brown fleck on neck stripe.

I reckon that matches up. I'm going to go with Keelan. How did I do?

-Not too bad. You got Hunter.

-Yes!

These two, though, need to be swapped round.

-Really?

-Yep, this one's Keelan, and that one is Khan.

Apart from how they look, do snakes have different temperaments?

Yeah, they can. It depends between species on how their temperament is.

-Can I hold Khan?

-Yeah.

It's always, when you hold snakes, I forget they're not slimy at all.

They're really nice to hold.

Sarah, where do these pythons come from, being royal pythons?

Western and central Africa.

It's been great learning about them,

but if I'm honest, I still can't tell the difference.

So I'm going to leave the snake ID to the pros.

'Down at Jungle Kingdom,

it's an important day for Marmite the hand-reared meerkat.

'Keeper Kim is planning to introduce her to a small group of males.

'She's been living next door for the past few days,

'so they can all get used to each other's smells.'

Today we're going to mix them in for about 20 minutes or so.

'But Kim doesn't know how the introduction will go.

'The boys might attack Marmite. So she's asked Becky to help.

'It will need two of them to break up a serious meerkat battle.'

There will be a little bit of fighting while they get to know her.

They've got to sort out their pecking order,

who's the boss, and who's at the bottom.

It's only going to be for half an hour or so,

then we'll separate them.

We'll keep doing it in short bursts until they're together all the time.

'This is always an anxious moment for keepers.

'They love their animals and don't want to see any of them hurt.'

A little bit nervous, cos we always give her cuddles in the morning,

which we've got to try and stop doing, which is quite hard.

-Right. Ready, Becks?

-Go for it.

-Ready, Marmite? Here come the boys.

'This is the first time Marmite has ever seen her new companions.

'One of the boys seems to have the role of boss,

'and is the most interested in Marmite.'

It's ordinary rough-and-tumble.

There's nothing to worry about as such.

'It'll be a good thing if one of the boys can assert himself quickly,

'as it'll mean there'll be less squabbling.'

He's just scenting his territory now.

Yeah, he's making sure the other boys know "this is my girl".

She seems to be doing really well. I'm really proud of her.

'It's gone well, but it's best to introduce them gradually.

'So they take Marmite out of the boys' enclosure.

'Over the next few weeks they'll mix them for increasing lengths of time,

'until they are all happy with each other.'

-Good girl!

-Well done.

'Kim's delighted with how it's gone, but she's also a little bit sad.'

For me, this is massive.

This is the last time I should ever touch her,

unless there's something wrong with her.

I can't keep picking her up and holding her.

'Saying goodbye will be hard.

'But she has to let Marmite get on with being a meerkat.'

It nearly is the end of the show. Johny, what are you doing?

I'm trying to say goodbye.

Sorry, it's just this amazing creature that Gemma's holding.

Check this out.

-Gemma, what is that?

-This is Dante, he's our panther chameleon.

He's absolutely amazing looking!

We've got to mention his colour. Chameleons are known for colours.

Has he got a special type of colour, as a panther chameleon,

and why does he have it?

A lot of people think that chameleons change all sorts of colours,

unfortunately that's not true.

If I put him on my head, he wouldn't change all those colours.

-It's not as simple as your skin.

-No.

Basically, it's all down to light, temperature and mood.

And it is generally the mood that has most changes.

When I'm angry I turn a little bit red in the face. Is that the same?

Actually, when he does get angry, he does go a dark red colour.

Ooh. What about when romance is in the air?

When there's romance, he'll put all his most flashy colours on,

as if to say "How you doin'?"

So it changes with mood. And you said temperature.

Yeah, when it's very light, a lovely hot sunny day,

he'll turn a bright, light colour.

-And that will reflect the sun off him.

-Is it all right if I hold him?

How many toes has he got?

He's got three on one side and two on the other.

Very special, if you have a look, very good at holding on.

They're like cooking mitts.

-Definitely.

-That is uber-cute, I've got to say.

And he's all right there, walking up?

Yeah, if you look at his tail, he's using that to hold on.

I don't like the way he's looking at me.

If you look at his eyes, they're like moving round, like big balls.

He can look in all directions, but with one eye at a time.

JOHNY AND RANI LAUGH

When he's got a bit of food in front of him, a cricket or a locust,

he'll lock both eyes on it and go for it.

Why don't you lock your eyes on what's coming up

-on the next episode of Roar?

-I like you!

'Gertrude the giraffe is due to give birth,

'but the keepers know she doesn't like babies.

'In fact, she attacks them. So how will she cope with her own calf?'

'What's this? Jelly-vision?

'I'll be finding out if the meerkats go mad for their mealworm pudding.

'And the lions are hungry.

'So how will our Roar rangers cope

'when they try and stick-feed the big cats? Don't miss it!'

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

E-mail [email protected]